1974 Swedish Grand Prix
Scandinavian Raceway |location = Anderstorp, Sweden |circuittype = Permanent Racing Facility |lapdistance = 4.018 |laps = 80 |distance = 321.440 |pole = Patrick Depailler |polenation = FRA |poleteam = |poletime = 1:24.758 |fastestlap = 1:27.262 |fastestlapdriver = Patrick Depailler |fastestlapnation = FRA |fastestlapteam = |fastestlapnumber = 72 |winner = Jody Scheckter |winnernation = RSA-1928 |winnerteam = |second = Patrick Depailler |secondnation = FRA |secondteam = |third = James Hunt |thirdnation = GBR |thirdteam = }} The 1974 Swedish Grand Prix, otherwise known as the X Texaco Grand Prix of Sweden, was the seventh round of the 1974 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Scandinavian Raceway on the 9th June 1974.'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: SWEDISH GP, 1974', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2016), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr242.html, (Accessed 30/03/2017) The race would see rediscover their title winning form from the previous season, as Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler swept home to record a one-two finish for the British squad. Qualifying had seen a front row lockout for the Tyrrell squad, Depailler on pole ahead of Scheckter, while the duo of Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni shared row two. Other highlights saw James Hunt up in sixth, splitting the two Loti, while Reine Wisell proved to be best of the Scandinavian contingent in sixteenth. When the flag dropped on race day it was Scheckter who stole the lead into turn one, followed by a charging Ronnie Peterson from fifth. Depailler dropped to third ahead of the two Ferraris, while Hunt slipped down the order after a poor start. Scheckter, Peterson and Depailler battled away out front and quickly established a small lead over Lauda and co. Then, on lap nine, the familiar issue of reliability dumped Peterson out of contention, leaving the two Tyrrells on their own for the rest of the afternoon. Hunt was steadily climbing back up the order as this was going on, and when Regazzoni dropped out with a gearbox failure the Brit was up in fourth. Behind, Reutemann dropped out with an oil leak and promoted Emerson Fittipaldi into the top five. Denny Hulme was promoted into the points too, but his race was then cut short by a suspension failure. Lauda was beginning to struggle with a suspension problem in the laps after Regazzoni retired, allowing Hunt to close the gap to his old Formula Three rival. Ultimately the Brit was left with an easy pass as the Austrian struggled more and more. A few laps later and Lauda was out with a gearbox failure, while Hunt was now rapidly closing onto the back of the two Tyrrells. Unfortunately for those wanting to see a fight for the lead, the ran out of time to challenge the leading pair, with Scheckter cruising across the line half a second ahead of teammate Depailler in an excellent display of formation flying. Hunt was just over three seconds back in third ahead of Fittipaldi, while the series of retirements saw Jean-Pierre Jarier and Graham Hill promoted into the points in the closing stages. Best of the Scandinavian contingent was Tom Belsø down in eighth, while Vern Schuppan finished the race, only to be disqualified from the result having officially failed to qualify. Background The World Championship's second visit to Scandinavia saw the F1 circus roll into Anderstorp airfield, home to the Scandinavian Raceway and the Swedish Grand Prix.D.S.J., 'The Swedish Grand Prix: A Tyrrell Double', motorsportmagazine.com, (Motor Sport, 01/07/1974), http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/july-1974/34/swedish-grand-prix, (Accessed 30/03/2017) The circuit had been touched up since 1973, the only substantial change being a high curbed chicane added at the end of the back straight to slow the cars as they entered the midfield section. Instead, a heavily modified entry list was submitted due to a mix of preference by the organisers, who decided to prevent the "rabble" from taking part, repairs after the chaos in Monte Carlo, and personal choice by some of the drivers. The organisers, in conjunction with the Formula One Constructors Association, agreed to a 27 strong entry list, with 25 grid slots up for grabs (although there was a clause to boost the grid to 27 if the two who failed to qualify were Scandinavians). Those to miss out were and , the latter a huge surprise to many, while decided to drop their third car. In their place came local racer Leo Kinnunen, while an entry by Scuderia Finotto was accepted for Gérard Larrousse, only to be withdrawn in the wake of team owner Silvio Moser's death after his horror crash at Monza. were among those fielding a revised driver line-up in Sweden, one that had been thrust upon them by lead driver Brian Redman. The Brit had decided that, after spending the whole season stuck in the lower end of the field, it was best to retire, meaning the American squad had to find a replacement to partner Jean-Pierre Jarier, who would race in the long wheelbase DN3. In therefore stepped Swedish driver Bertil Roos to make his Grand Prix debut, whose main racing experience came from his time in the US single seater scene over the previous three years. Elsewhere, Frank Williams Racing Cars were back up to a two car designed effort in Sweden, with Dane Tom Belsø coming back to the team after his Formula 5000 duties in recent weeks. He would join Arturo Merzario in the team, although the Italian was a doubt for the race after breaking his finger at Imola a week earlier. Frank Williams therefore opted to bring reject Richard Robarts along with the team for the weekend, with the Brit prepared to jump into Merzario's race seat if the Italian deemed himself unfit. At , Reine Wisell had to be drafted in to partner Vittorio Brambilla, as regular runner Hans-Joachim Stuck was fighting for the European Formula Two Championship down in Hockenheim. It had been a busy period for March, who had had to build an entirely new car for Stuck in two weeks since Monaco, just a few weeks after having to build a second car for Brambilla. were represented by three cars, two run by factory drivers Carlos Pace and Jochen Mass, while a third was entered privately by Finnish racer Leo Kinnunen. There were murmurs of discontent among the factory Surtees team with poor pace, and reliability, denying Pace and Mass decent finishes throughout the season. decided it was best to simply drop one of their entries after a very costly day in Monte Carlo, with François Migualt missing out on a drive in the Northern kingdom. Henri Pescarolo, meanwhile, had been given the newest of the P201s as he partnered Jean-Pierre Beltoise for the weekend, with the former P160E held in reserve. also had their newest car out for a run, with James Hunt once again pencilled in at the wheel. The only three driver team in Sweden proved to be , who fielded Emerson Fittipaldi, Denny Hulme and Mike Hailwood as usual with six cars shared between them. also brought more cars than drivers, with Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni getting a choice of four, although the newest of the cars would need some attention if it was to run at all. Those two efforts arrived as favourites to take victory in Sweden. Elsewhere, Team Lotus decided to continue on with their old pair of 72Es for Ronnie Peterson and Jacky Ickx, bringing just the former's 76 as a spare. Their arch-rivals also fielded a two car effort bringing their newest 007s for Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler to use, with a battle hardened 006 in reserve. also had two factory cars for Carlos Reutemann and Rikky von Opel, while John Watson raced a privately entered BT42 on behalf of Hexagon of Highgate. Completing the field were , who were happy to have survived the battle of Monte Carlo with only minor wounds. Graham Hill and Guy Edwards therefore got to race with two completely healthy cars for the weekend, with the newest Lola also available for the boss to try. rounded out the entries with a single car effort for Vern Schuppan, albeit with the old 1973 spec car as the Australian's usual charger needed a complete rebuilt. One of the most chaotic days in F1 history back in Monte Carlo had ended with Fittipaldi still leading the charge in the World Championship standings, having doubled his advantage to two points. Regazzoni, meanwhile, had swapped places with teammate Lauda to be the Brazilian's closest challenger, while Scheckter climbed up to fourth after his second place finish. Victory had been enough to propel Peterson into sixth, just behind Hulme, while Watson was on the board for the first time, albeit down in fifteenth place. had seen their advantage in the International Cup for Manufacturers drop to seven points after the Monte Carlo bout, only managing to claim a single point over their rivals. and looked more like their old selves, both climbing into the top five after mutually strong weekends, while just held on to the same status. had become the tenth constructor to score in 1974 thanks to Jarier, and were ahead of and the effort. Entry list The full entry list for the is outlined below: ** Merzario was initially entered in #20, but Robarts was also included as the team's reserve driver. Practice Overview Qualifying Friday and Saturday would play host to practice/qualifying for the Swedish Grand Prix, with a grand total of four sessions spread across the two days. This was a blessing for the F1 paddock, for Friday's running was interrupted by a series of sharp showers meaning Saturday saw most of the action. As for a target time the new chicane had been intended to slow the cars down, although many thought it was still possible to beat the old lap record, a 1:26.146 set by Denny Hulme on his way to victory in 1973. Report The first Friday session had barely got underway when the first shower swept across the airfield, sending the few cars orbiting the circuit scurrying back to the pits. Fortunately it was only a light shower, and soon the field were back in action on a quickly drying circuit. It was during this period that the two s appeared, only for Tom Belsø to spin onto the grass and effectively end his day, while Arturo Merzario completed a couple of laps before declaring himself unfit. Elsewhere, Niki Lauda set the pace in his , the Austrian quickly mastering the new chicane to record a 1:26.946 before another shower effectively ended the first session. The man who looked most likely to challenge the #12 car was Ronnie Peterson in the old Lotus 72, half a second behind, although the Swede was only a fraction ahead of Jody Scheckter, Emerson Fittipaldi and Jean-Pierre Jarier. Hulme was the only other man to seriously threaten the 1:27.000s, although his chance to join that group was cut short by another shower. There would be more showers in the second Friday session, meaning most of the drivers struggled to beat their best efforts from the earlier run. Clay Regazzoni was one of the rare few to actually improve, although this was because he had bent the nose of his Ferrari earlier in the day. Richard Robarts, meanwhile, had taken over the #20 Iso-Marlboro once Merzario withdrew, quietly learning the circuit, while teammate Belsø put his repaired car through its paces. Once again, the best times of the session came during a brief window of dry running, although this time the circuit was too cold to properly dry. Jarier ended the session fastest, a second slower than he had managed earlier in the day, while Lauda was just a hundredth of a second behind. Before anyone else could join them a series of showers effectively ended the day's running, with the Austrian on provisional pole. Saturday morning dawned in the midst of a heavy downpour, although by early afternoon the skies were clear and the circuit dry. Unsurprisingly, almost everyone decided to head out on track the moment the first Saturday session started, knowing that rain could arrive at any moment. Yet, the first delay of the afternoon would not be caused by the weather, for the new Heuer timing system failed and forced everyone to head back into the pits. Fortunately the system was restored in a few minutes, and the entire field was soon back out and looking to improve. Unsurprisingly there had been universal improvement by the end of the first session, with a quarter of the field all under the old lap record. Fastest, and provisional pole went to a surprised Jody Scheckter, a tenth faster then Friday's pace setter Lauda. The second and final session on Saturday saw a mixed bag of results for the lead drivers, with some, such as Scheckter and Lauda, failing to improve. That fact allowed Patrick Depailler to sweep to an unlikely pole position for , with the Frenchman recording a 1:24.758 almost completely unnoticed. Ferrari made a desperate bid to challenge the Tyrrell supremacy late on, but both Lauda and Regazzoni failed to make a realistic challenge. The nature of the Scandinavian Raceway meant that driver ability was less of a factor, and with a huge number of powered cars, there was little difference in top speed. That meant that there was only a second covering pole sitter Depailler and eight place Jarier, and only three seconds covering the top twenty. Best of the locals, excluding F1 regular Peterson, proved to be Reine Wisell down in sixteenth, while Danish racer Belsø adopted temporary teammate Robarts' car after a failure on his car. The battle to qualify went down to the wire, with an off colour Carlos Pace surprisingly in the fight to survive. Fortunately for him it would be the development car, in the hands of Finnish racer Leo Kinnunen that missed the mark, along with the underfunded of Vern Schuppan. Fortunately for the Finn, Frank Williams decided to withdraw Robarts' entry so that Belsø could use the car, promoting the developmental back onto the grid. Qualifying Results The full qualifying results for the are outlined below: *T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session. *'Bold' indicates a driver's best/qualifying time. ** Robarts could not start the race as Belsø used his car. *† Merzario withdrew from qualifying after the first session due to injury. Grid ** Schuppan did not qualify for the race, but decided to join the grid on race morning. Race Raceday dawned a very miserable grey, with rain looming over Anderstorp throughout the morning, prompting some last minute changes to the pitlane. The Spanish Grand Prix held earlier in the season had seen chaos in the pits when the entire field had to swap to dry tyres during the race, and with the Scandinavian Raceway pits being among the smallest on the calendar, drastic action was required to avoid those issues. The Formula One Constructors Association suggested that the back of the pits could be used, and so the organisers dismantled the back of the pit complex and erected a barrier between it and the paddock, completing the work just in time for the warm-up. Warm-up Colin Chapman and Ken Tyrrell flipped a coin to decide whose team would get the "front" garage, the former losing out, just as the field prepared for the morning run. Having been forced to move to the back of the pit complex, Chapman decided to use the session practising tyre changes, with Ronnie Peterson and Jacky Ickx taking turns to sweep into the pits. Elsewhere, Tom Belsø undid most of the crew's work by sailing into the barriers with a suspension failure, prompting Frank Williams to hand the Dane Richard Robarts' healthy car. After the conclusion of the morning run the clouds all but disappeared, while prepared Vern Schuppan's car for the grid, despite the fact he had failed to qualify. He duly tagged onto the back of the field as the cars departed for the formation lap later in the day, and allowed to start if anyone failed to get away. Other last minute changes saw Leo Kinnunen confirmed as a starter once Robarts was officially withdrawn, while Emerson Fittipaldi opted to swap to one of the spare s. Report Only one of the two s got a strong start from the grid, Jody Scheckter sprinting clear of pole sitting teammate Patrick Depailler. Unfortunately for the Frenchman an OK start was not enough for him to hold onto second, for Peterson came scything through to claim second and almost dragged Niki Lauda past the #4 Tyrrell too. At the back, meanwhile, Schuppan had decided to go with flow, having receive no signals to indicate otherwise, while Henri Pescarolo was in trouble with a sick sounding . End of the opening lap and Scheckter had successfully fended off a challenge from Peterson early on to establish a small lead. Behind the Swede came Depailler, Lauda, Clay Regazzoni, Carlos Reutemann, James Hunt, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Ickx, Fittipaldi, Mike Hailwood and Denny Hulme, before a gap back to Jean-Pierre Beltoise. The Frenchman then headed the rest of the field in a long line, as everyone bar Pescarolo, whose car had gone up in flames a few corners from the start, completed the opening tour. The following laps followed much the same pattern, with the top of the pack remaining in a stable order, while others were shuffled out by mechanical strife. The first to fall after Pescarolo, whom had escaped his blazing BRM unharmed, would be one of the locals, as Bertil Roos stopped in the pits with a broken gearbox. A lap later and BRM's other car was out of action, Beltoise pulling to a stop with a ruined engine, while Hailwood dropped out on lap six with a fuel feed issue. Back with the leaders and Scheckter was steadily establishing a small advantage over Peterson, who had the rest of the lead group bunched up behind him. The Swede was occasionally fighting off the attentions of Depailler, although those attacks proved intermittent as the Frenchman kept an eye on Lauda behind. The second group was enduring a similar state of affairs behind Vittorio Brambilla, with the slower drivers beginning to drop away from the train. It took a while for any major changes to occur but, on lap nine, two drivers dropped out while running in strong positions. The first was the Lotus of Peterson, which rolled to a stop on the runway after a driveshaft failure and dropped the Swede out of the running. In the second pack, meanwhile, Finnish racer Kinnunen had been fighting with the sister of Carlos Pace when he suffered an engine failure, leaving him to roll to a stop a few yards away from Peterson's fatally wounded Lotus. The retirement of Peterson effectively settled the order out front, for Depailler managed to escape from the threat of Lauda to join Scheckter and form a Tyrrell one-two. Those two were around two seconds clear of the Austrian, who still had teammate Regazzoni acting as a rear gunner, with the Swiss racer still fending off Reutemann, Hunt, Jarier, Ickx, Fittipaldi, Hulme and Brambilla. The Italian had escaped the second group to tag onto the leaders when Kinnunen disappeared, leaving them to fight amongst themselves. Indeed, it was in this second group where most of the on track entertainment was to be found, with small bunches of cars attempting to overtake one another. The group was being headed by a duel between John Watson and Reine Wisell, just a few yards ahead of some formation flying s of Graham Hill and Guy Edwards. There was another small patch of tarmac before a truel between Mass, Belsø and Rikky von Opel arrived, with Schuppan tagging on to them around a second off. Out front the race for the lead was steadily becoming a race of attrition, although Hunt did make a legitimate move on Reutemann for fifth. That move came moments after Ickx hit trouble in the sole surviving Lotus, ultimately going on to retire a few laps later with an electrical issue, before Regazzoni hit trouble. The Swiss racer had been having to drive around a worsening clutch problem during the opening laps, before the strain on the rest of the transmission broke his gearbox. Without a rear gunner to defend him, and a less than healthy engine, Lauda was soon having to work hard to keep the charging of Hunt at bay, allowing Scheckter and Depailler to pull out a more significant advantage. Their fight was one of precision against brute force, for Hunt had the superior car in the twists of the mid-section, but even Lauda's sick Ferrari engine was enough to keep the powered Brit at bay down the straights. Those two were soon left on their own as Reutemann retired, having pulled into the pits to find all of his oil on the outside, rather than the inside, of his engine, while the McLarens of Hulme and Fittipaldi were otherwise occupied fending off a happy Brambilla. Jarier was in the middle of this bunch until he accidentally set off his onboard extinguisher, running out of road in his moment of blindness. The Frenchman rejoined just ahead of the Watson/Wisell scrap, which by that stage was at advantage Sweden, and lost touch with Brambilla and the McLarens. Seeing his new position Jarier's confidence tumbled, leaving him to simply run along in his a few seconds ahead of his new teammate. Sadly, the Watson/Wisell fight would come to a premature end when the former stopped for fresh tyres, handing the Swede the position. Unfortunately for him, and the home fans, Wisell's Shadow had been bounced across the curbs at the chicane once too often, and with three quarters of the race completed the Swede was out with suspension failure. Their disappearance followed the demise of Hulme, out with his own suspension gremlins, and left the two Lolas on the verge of a points finish. Similarly, the von Opel/Mass/Belsø brawl had been broken up by mechanical strife, for Mass disappeared with a front suspension failure. As he went off into the pits, von Opel was caught sleeping by the Dane, who duly pulled clear of the Liechtensteiner before a response could be mustered. It was therefore down to Lauda and Hunt to entertain the fans, although even that fight was heading towards an inevitably dull conclusion. With 69 laps completed the Ferrari engine was really beginning to struggle, leaving Hunt with his first real chance to slither past his old Formula Three rival down the start/finish straight. The Brit duly blasted past the Austrian into the chicane, and with a mounting series of issues on the #12 car, Lauda was unable to muster a response. He ultimately retired a lap later with a transmission failure, although his battered car was also carrying a sick engine, a very heavily abused gearbox, and a rear suspension mounting which was on the verge of failing as he pulled into the pits. tries to make up for his poor start.]]With an empty track ahead of him Hunt set about carving into the lead of the two Tyrrells, quickly setting a new fastest lap. In response, Depailler set an untouched lap of 1:27.626 and closed right onto the back of teammate Scheckter, although both were driving too cleanly to be troubled. They seemed comfortable out front and simply ticked off the laps, although the few thousand fans were getting behind the hard charging Hunt as the race drew to its conclusion. Unfortunately for those hoping for a scrap, the chequered flag appeared before Hunt got within range, the Brit falling shy by just over three seconds. Scheckter, meanwhile, had paced himself perfectly to claim an excellently controlled maiden victory, while Depailler finished just a couple of tenths behind. Fourth went to a lowly Fittipaldi, who had been thankful for an engine issue that dropped Brambilla down the order on the final lap, while Jarier recovered to fifth. Sixth went to a shocked Hill in the Lola, who had been promoted by the quick fire issues suffered by others in the closing stages, with Edwards just a few yards behind. Eighth place went to Belsø, a few seconds ahead of von Opel, while Brambilla was frustrated to have suffered an engine failure on the final tour. John Watson lost three laps during his visit to the pits and so finished eleventh, while Schuppan completed crossed the line as the final finisher in twelfth, only to be disqualified a few minutes later for illegally starting the race. Results The full results for the are outlined below: ** Schuppan was disqualified from the result having officially failed to qualify for the race itself. Milestones *Debut (and only start) for Bertil Roos. *Leo Kinnunen made his World Championship debut. *Clay Regazzoni made his 50th Grand Prix start. *Maiden pole position for Patrick Depailler. *Jody Scheckter claimed his first victory. ** This was also the first triumph for a South African racing driver. * earned their seventeenth win as a constructor. **Engine supplier powered a car to a 72nd triumph. *Depailler earned a maiden podium finish. **It would also be the Frenchman's first fastest lap award. *James Hunt completed Hesketh's first visit to the podium as a constructor. **This was also Ford Cosworth's 190th spot on the rostrum. *Graham Hill claimed his last World Championship point. **It was also the first points finish for a built chassis since the 1968 Mexican Grand Prix. Standings Victory for Jody Scheckter in Anderstorp propelled the South African racer right into the midst of the fight for the World Championship, leaving him level on points with third placed Niki Lauda. They were now six points behind Championship leader Emerson Fittipaldi, with Clay Regazzoni slipping five points behind the Brazilian in second. Elsewhere, Denny Hulme and Ronnie Peterson lost ground in fifth and sixth, Patrick Depailler launched himself into the top seven, and James Hunt and Graham Hill had added their names to the board at the bottom of the order. cemented themselves in third in the International Cup for Manufacturers' standings after their one-two finish, although few believed they could truly challenge or . Of those two it was McLaren who led the charge out of Sweden, the British firm holding a ten point lead over the Italians, who were themselves five ahead of Tyrrell. Outside the top three, held station in fourth after another pointless race, broke into the top ten with their maiden podium, and were on the board for the first time as a listed constructor since . 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